1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910480434403321

Autore

Epstein William M. <1944->

Titolo

Democracy without decency : good citizenship and the war on poverty / / William M. Epstein

Pubbl/distr/stampa

University Park, Pennsylvania : , : Pennsylvania State University Press, , [2010]

©2010

ISBN

0-271-05039-X

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (282 p.)

Disciplina

361.610973

Soggetti

Electronic books.

United States Social policy

United States Economic policy

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- contents -- Acknowledgments -- Preface -- Introduction: The Good Citizen and American Social Welfare -- 1. The Programmatic Precursors to the War on Poverty -- 2. The War on Poverty: Programs of the Office of Economic Opportunity -- 3. Other War on Poverty Programs -- 4. The Social Insurances and Welfare -- 5. Charity and Community Organization -- Conclusion: The Iron Sculpture -- Tables -- References -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

The conservative attacks on the welfare system in the United States over the past several decades have put liberal defenders of poverty relief and social insurance programs on the defensive. In this no-holds-barred look at the reality of American social policy since World War II, William Epstein argues that this defense is not worth mounting—that the claimed successes of American social programs are not sustained by evidence. Rather than their failure being the result of inadequate implementation or political resistance stemming from the culture wars, these programs and their built-in limitations actually do represent what the vast majority of people in this country want them to be. However much people may speak in favor of welfare, the proof of what they really want is in the pudding of the social policies that are actually legislated. The stinginess of America’s welfare system is the



product of basic American values rooted in the myth of “heroic individualism” and reinforced by a commitment to social efficiency, the idea that social services need to be minimal and compatible with current social arrangements.